Glad you're here!

Welcome to my personal blog. Squirrel(!) is such an appropriate title for this spot on the Internet. This began as a way to share the journal from my walk across England with hubby Jan. That trip is archived here for you to enjoy (June of 2012), but now when you visit you'll read my crazy musings on everything from horses, to cars, to grammar, to books, baseball, or weasels. Don't get whiplash trying to figure out a theme; just watch out for the squirrels!

Sunday, August 6, 2017

Three Weeks of Preparation

Home Sweet Minneapolis

Destination Glasgow

We are at T-Minus 20 hours and counting
until we board a flight in Minneapolis and take off for Glasgow via Amsterdam. Nervous
excitement has sapped me of sleep for the past few nights as I very slowly ticked
things off of my to-do list. I am nearly packed but I’m not ready to leave
quite yet.

My dining room table is finally emptying
of its collection of necessities for our trip, and I our shopping is done. I still
have several “business” (aka-writing job) activities to finish and I would love
to leave my house at least vacuumed and free of anything sitting in garbage
cans that might stink up the place while we’re gone—so that’s still on my list
for today before we head out the door!

My ability to procrastinate never ceases
to amaze me.

Nonetheless, we usually manage to make
it to where we need to go and, fortunately, we don’t have to leave until quite
late tonight night, so it’s like having an extra day!

Tami, Pete, Me and Jan

Despite the crazy schedule this past month,
we’ve managed to get in some good training hikes, and there’s no doubt it helps
to have fun while you’re doing that. We have awesome hiking buddies in my
brother Pete and his girlfriend Tami—two people who are fun and funny and are training for their own
upcoming hiking trip in Colorado.

Climbing above Red Wing, MN

In the past several weeks we’ve found
some great places to get in hill hiking and long walks to test new back-up shoes.
Along the way, Pete and I found ways to scare our partners (walking too close
to the edges of drop-offs), disrespect Mother Nature (telling fart jokes in the
middle of the beautiful outdoors) and pretty much undo the healthful benefits
of miles of walking by finding decadent food to eat after the hikes.

The long straight road to New Prague

New hiking boots--twins with Tami!

My very own hiking pants

Our hiking venues are generally state
parks, but Jan and I also got in an 11.5 mile trek along paved county roads
from our house in Webster, MN to the relative metropolis of New Prague. The
walk seemed endless, but it was satisfying to accomplish, and the biggest
thrill of the endeavor was learning that the new arch supports in my ancient
hiking boots will work, and my new hiking low top boots will work even better -- all maybe even without blisters -- to carry me along the West
Highland Way.

I also checked new hiking pants, a
long-sleeved tech shirt, and new hiking poles off my to-buy list. The pants
were a special treat for me since last time we distance-trekked, I used
hand-me-downs from Jan. True story! I’m a bit smaller in the waist this time
around, so I got to get my very own Columbias with actual zip-off legs (technical
term: convertible pants). I tell you, it’s the little things.

I got my Scottish pedicure--a very important part of getting ready. And Jan got his hippie hair cut (I love his old guy pony tail!) so I think the grooming is taken care of.

The St. Andrew's Cross is on the Scottish national flag

Some of the hillier training we did was at Afton State Park, where I gave the new shoes a good workout on these knee-crusher washout outs! Shoes=successful!

Minnesota is gorgeous, too -- the Mississippi River from Frontenac State Park

There are big decisions yet to come,
however. I’ll let you know if I manage to make them without trauma. For
example: I have some concerns about a bruised heel, so it’s a huge question of
what shoes to bring for non-hiking. Some look good for sightseeing and others
are more comfy for potentially sore feets. Stay tuned to see whether I decide
on tennis shoes (which are aqua and match nothing) or Clarks walking shoes that
I bought for my last big vacation which are leather and pretty comfy but not as
comfy as the tennies. Such important stuff.